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Water and Oil

This is a video commentary that needs to be front page news. Thanks to Lawrence O’Donnell for reporting the news and speaking honestly about the truth. Thank you to Native Americans for their courageous position on a life force we all too often take for granted. http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-visits-standing-rock-759206979622  

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The Faceless Targets

The release of documents these last few days about the rules of engagement specific to American airstrikes on terror suspects has initiated little national discussion. Or outrage. What might have warranted a front page headline in any reasonably minded newspaper has been relegated to the fine print. The timing of this document release by American authorities is telling. The world has become…

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Male Silence Needs to End

Male Silence Needs to End

I cannot begin to express the horror and disgust I feel for a  judicial system that takes itself as seriously as it does and then makes a mockery of its principled laws by simply ignoring them. But the absence of a government directed justice system is not the sole culprit here. It goes much deeper than that. It is male silence. Some background A young man is arrested for raping an unconscious…

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Where's the Beef?

Where’s the Beef?

“Where’s the beef? ” “Between the buns,” the food service attendant barked. “What’s your order?  Don’t have all day, you know.” Donovan was about to break into a big smile when he realized he was in the wrong restaurant.  How he could have made that mistake was beyond him.  The night before had been a dilly. No doubt about it. Right now, all he really needed was something solid in composition…

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Embracing Community is a Precious Commodity for All Concerned

Embracing Community is a Precious Commodity for All Concerned

I haven’t been living in the town of Shelburne, Nova Scotia for a long time. But I have been here long enough to appreciate the real depth of character that has helped distinguish this community like other towns and cities across Canada.They have chosen to be inclusive and opened up their hearts and pocketbooks to a Syrian family fleeing the horrors of war. The recent sponsorship of a family from…

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The Children of Attawapiskat

The Children of Attawapiskat

There is this illusion western democracies suffer from that makes real lasting change impossible to implement. The illusion is a belief system that has been carefully managed over generations. The fact that we exist and offer the illusion of propriety and civility does not always make us good or right.  More often than not, it leaves many of us challenged and devastated. Somewhere along the way,…

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The Cleansing

  I washed my hands of you in midstream. Before the waters got too rough to handle. Before the heavy cargoes, we both carried aboard our sailing ships gave under the weight and sank Like two stones. Like two coins in a ridiculously romantic Italian fountain. She was thinking about the lines and then stopped. She looked at him quickly and turned away. The young man looked at the older woman and…

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Snapshots

He rolled off his mother’s tongue like a Mack truck.   You could hear him screaming all the way up the on-ramp until the anguish got absorbed by the unrelenting roar of Montreal  traffic.  In all the excitement, finally, a place to merge.   It wasn’t easy for him.  He was a driving force in his mother’s life but steering the wheel posed its own unique share of problems.  After all this time,  he…

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Keep Looking

She was short enough that giving her a hug meant dipping my  six-foot frame down to greet her.  It was at the best of times, awkward.  I suppose, in retrospect if the relationship had been destined to be anything greater than it was, she might have have invested in heels.  She never did. I met her in my  first year of college. I was barely seventeen  and she was a few days shy of thirty. We…

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Ban the Bomb!

  The editorial from the New York Times linked at the end of this short rant speaks to a seriously important issue.  The beginning of the article discusses the implications to all of us if nuclear weapons or the materials used to make them fall into the hands of terrorists. No argument here. The results would be devastating. We must ensure that all facilities worldwide have the proper security to…

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Look Both Ways

All I want for Christmas is a Sally Field moment. An honest to goodness “you like me”. Is that too much to ask?  We are not talking accolade after accolade. That sounds like too much work for you and the kind of responsibility for which I am not naturally suited.  Just fifteen minutes of fame, please. Anything at all will do. It translates simply into another kick at the can.  I am just trying in…

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I want to be a musician when I grow up. Given my sixty-three years on the planet, the question of time or the lack of it suddenly poses a big problem for me. Do I have enough time to pull it off? I have some serious pitch issues so the voice is out.  My only option is to choose an instrument suited to my character and my ability and get to work. My wife Janet has said on numerous occasions that I…

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The Courage to Say No!

The Courage to Say No!

An old friend recently posted a story in social media about a young German girl who was executed by the Nazis in 1943.  Her name was Sophie Scholl.  She was twenty-one years of age when she was beheaded by guillotine.  Her crime was distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets to fellow Germans.  At the time, she was a member of a non-violent resistance group called the White Rose. In the months that…

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I Got to Stop Eating So Late at Night...

I Got to Stop Eating So Late at Night…

She pulled her head back and lurched forward taking a nose dive,  holding one hand over her face. It all looked innocent  enough like an annoying sneeze. I was almost tempted to laugh. But I wasn’t even remotely close in my assessment. Though close enough, I discovered,  as a sudden and violent surge of wind  expelled itself out of her flared nostrils flipping chairs and tables in the small room,…

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The Sleep State

The hypothetical question:  Is Cape Breton prepared for a population explosion of monumental proportions?  I don’t have a problem with accepting refugees into this country.  The Canadian position on this has already been established. As Canadians, we will do our best to make our new American neighbours comfortable. My concern is with the new American leadership. We know from experience he has a…

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A Thought and a Prayer

A Thought and a Prayer

I can’t imagine how difficult the moment must be when a parent faces the news of their child’s passing.  An older parent, I’m sure will find it even more unbearable to grasp. No parent wants to outlive their children. The gift of life is just that…a gift. The intention is for your children to enjoy your love’s blessing long after you are gone. We all have mourned the passing of some well-known…

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Rock Steady

I  never  thought while lying on the beach in Zipolite forty odd years ago sipping on a deliciously bone chilling Cerveza that my world would ever change.  I was having a spectacular time changing the world or, at least, thinking about it,  one beer at a time.   We looked good and travelled light.  We had this big idea and we were working on it.  Aside from my commitment to the idea of revolution…

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